Gilbert Beilschmidt was a Prince
by Maya Tamika
Summary: Prince Gilbert leaves his castle to find the love of his life. CRACK! PruCan Rated for language and minor themes.


**Quick note: this story has elements from five classic fairy tales. See if you can name all five!**

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Our story would begin with 'once upon a time' if not for the fact that it does not. Instead, I shall begin our story with the beginning of the story.

The beginning of the story is this:

Gilbert Beilschmidt was a prince. He was a young prince, but the older of two princes and heir to the throne. He had one younger brother, a father, and a pet bird. He had everything he could ever want in his kingdom. But he wanted one thing more.

Prince Gilbert wanted love.

So one night, cloaked in night's dark shroud, the prince left his castle. He dressed in common garb, so as to not be recognised, climbed out his window and scaled down the tower. He landed lightly in the garden, brushed his clothes off, then turned to his brother and father, who were waiting for him.

"Goodbye," said he with a light smile, "thank you for seeing me off."

"Be careful out there," his father warned, "take care of your horse."

"I will," Gilbert replied.

"Take this," his brother held out his hand, "give it to the one you choose." He dropped a small ring onto Gilbert's palm.

"Danke, Ludwig," the prince replied. He smiled at his family, then led his horse away.

Once outside the castle walls, Gilbert mounted his horse and rode off through the town and into the woods.

Gilbert rode for days. Or hours. Which ever version you prefer. Finally, he found a small cottage. Hoping to stop for the night, he dismounted. He knocked, only to recieve no answer. He knocked again, reaping the same results.

Calling a soft, "hello?" into the cottage, the young prince made his way inside. He closed the window shutters behind himself, only to see that the door had been unlocked the whole time. He proceeded into the back room and found a small bed with a table next to it. On the table was a basket, filled to the brim with the fluffiest pancakes Gilbert had ever seen and two bottles of maple syrup. In the bed was a man. He was asleep.

Gilbert took a step toward the bed, but stopped when he heard a small _creak_. He waited, but the man did not stir. Just as Gilbert was about to approach, a small voice asked, "is someone there?"

Confused, Gilbert searched for the source of the voice. Quietly, he answered, "I am here. Where are you?"

"On the other side of the bed," the quiet voice replied, "but don't come over here. The floor is squeaky and he will wake."

"Who are you?" Gilbert asked.

"My name is Matthew. I was bringing pancakes to my grandmother, but that man was in the bed instead. At first I didn't notice that he wasn't my grandmother. But before I knew it, he had tied me up, knocked my grandmother out, and fallen asleep. Can you help me?"

"How am I to help you?" the young prince wondered.

"Kill the man in the bed," Matthew told him.

Gilbert shrugged. Why not? He carefully made his way over to the bed, but just as he was about to draw his sword, the man stirred and awoke.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"I am Gilbert," Gilbert replied, "and I am going to kill you."

The man smirked, "no you're not." And with that, the man vanished in a puff of smoke.

Gilbert hurried around the bed. A young blonde man was sitting against the wall, his ankles and wrists bound, next to an older man, who was passed out on the floor.

With his hunting knife, Gilbert cut the ropes binding the blonde and removed his gag, "are you alright?"

"Yes," the blonde replied, "you said your name was Gilbert. Is that truly your name?"

"It is," Gilbert answered.

"Is that not also the name of our fine prince?" the blonde asked next.

"It is," Gilbert again replied.

"Then are you not he?" the blonde asked.

"I am," Gilbert smiled.

"Then come. And we shall run away together," Matthew said, taking Gilbert's hands in his. Gilbert slipped the ring his brother had given him onto Matthew's finger.

"And we shall escape the opression of your overbearing grandmother," Gilbert added, gesturing to the man on the floor.

"Yes! Now, let us leave!" Matthew announced. He took his basket of pancakes from the table, locked the door to the cottage, and he and Gilbert crawled out the window together.

But they did not get far. After three steps for Gilbert, which were four steps for Matthew, the man who had been sleeping in the bed appeared before them.

Gilbert placed himself between the man and his love, "don't touch my princess, foul man!"

The man cackled, "you cannot stop me, young prince."

Just then, Matthew's grandmother crawled through the window and placed himself in front of the couple, "go! I will fight him off!"

"But grandmother!" Matthew protested.

"No! I will be fine! Run, Matvey!" the man insisted.

"Sir, might I have your name so that, if I never see you again, I can mourn for you properly?" Gilbert asked.

"My name is Ivan," Matthew's grandmother replied, "now flee! And don't look back!"

"Come, Gilbert!" Matthew exclaimed.

Matthew turned and pulled Gilbert through the trees, away from the battle between Ivan and the man. They ran and ran, hand in hand, until Matthew tripped. As he fell, he pulled Gilbert down with him. Unfortunately, Matthew was a hair's breadth closer to the edge of a gentle slope and began to roll down it. He grasped Gilbert's hand, trying to get his feet under him, but the young prince's head had struck a rock when he fell and he was now quite unconscious. Thus, he had let go of Matthew's hand.

"Gil!" Matthew called as his footing gave way entirely, his hand slipped and he rolled down the hill.

Gilbert, of course, remembered none of it. But upon waking, he found only Matthew's basket and a lump on his head. In that moment, he made it his mission to find his love once more.

So Gilbert searched and searched. He survived off Matthew's heavenly pancakes and maple syrup, which lasted him much longer than he expected.

After weeks and weeks of searching, Gilbert finally made his way into a small clearing. There was a group of seven gathered around a raised platform with a box on it, looking sombre.

Warily, the prince approached. As he did so, one of the figures saw him and went to him, "are you prince Gilbert?"

"I am," Gilbert replied, "who are you?"

"I am Alfred," the man answered, "and these men here are Feliciano, Lovino, Ludwig, Kiku, Arthur and Ivan. You are the one who loved Matthew, are you not?"

Gilbert nodded.

Alfred sighed sadly, "he said you would find him. He had such faith in you. But I'm afraid you are too late."

"Too late?" Gilbert asked, "how am I too late?"

Alfred turned back to the platform and shook his head sadly, "Matthew has died. He was poisoned by the man you found sleeping in his cottage. The man did it to get revenge on you."

"Poisoned? Dead? No! That cannot be!" Gilbert announced. He ran over to the box, which he now saw was a coffin, and looked down at the pale, dead face of his lover.

"No..." Gilbert sobbed.

"Prince Gilbert," Ivan gently placed his hand on Gilbert's shoulder, "there may still be a way to bring him back."

Gilbert looked up at him with hope in his eyes, "true love's kiss, right? I'll do it!"

Ivan scoffed, "no! Of course not! This is not a fairy tale. No, you must defeat the man who did this. That alone will break the curse."

Gilbert blinked at Ivan, "defeat him? How?"

"That is up to you to figure out," Ivan said.

"I'll do it!" Gilbert announced. Everyone seemed to cheer up, if only slightly.

"Before you go," Alfred began, stopping the prince, "you should hear Matthew's story. He came to us one day, absolutely terrified and alone. We took him in and cared for him. In turn, he made us pancakes every day. He makes the most amazing pancakes. We lived together happily for some time, but on his sixteenth birthday, he pricked his finger on a spinning wheel. That's how he fell under the curse."

"I see," Gilbert replied, "thank you. I'll be off."

Gilbert set off in search of the nameless sleeping man. He searched for a long time. He searched for years and years. Before he realised it, a hundred years had passed and he had still not found the man.

Gilbert was ready to return to his Matthew's side and wait for death, but as he approached the castle, thinking to himself, 'I don't remember there being a castle here before,' the man appeared in front of him.

"Well, finally!" Gilbert exclaimed, "I've been looking for you for a hundred years!"

The man smirked, "I know you have. And having seen your persistence, I will lift your dear Matthew's curse. Go ahead on in."

"Wait, really?" Gilbert asked, "it's that easy?"

"Yes," the man replied, stepping out of the way. Gilbert carefully passed by him and entered the castle. He made his way through the familiar halls to Matthew's room, where the blonde still slept, frozen in time.

"You are back," a voice said from behind Gilbert.

Gilbert turned to see Ivan standing there.

"What happened to this place?" Gilbert asked, gesturing to the castle.

"The seven men you met before got bored. So they built a castle around Matvey," Ivan answered.

"They took a hundred years to build this castle?"

"No. They took three years. During those three years, Matvey continued to age. After that, the men had finished their work, so they asked me to put them to sleep until Matvey wakes up. So I did. And they have been frozen in time ever since," Ivan explained.

"So he's ninteen now..." Gilbert gently trailed a finger along Matthew's cheek.

"Da," Ivan replied.

Without further hesitation, Gilbert leaned over and kissed his princess. Slowly, Matthew woke up. His eyes opened, then focused on Gilbert. He smiled.

"Gil," Matthew breathed. He reached up and kissed Gilbert again, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Gilbert replied, taking his love into his arms.

"Aw, how sweet," an unseen voice echoed off the walls. Matthew and Gilbert searched for the source. As they did so, the nameless sleeping man appeared in the room, a wide smirk on his face, "good to see you awake again, Matthew. Now, prince Gilbert, to tell you my true intentions. I wanted you to wake young Matthew so I could steal him away from you! I still need to exact my revenge, after all."

"What did I ever do to you?" Gilbert asked.

"You woke me from a rather pleasant nap," the man complained, "now, little Matthew, you'll be coming with me."

Gilbert moved to step in front of Matthew, but found the blonde to be missing. He turned to search for him, and when he turned back around, Matthew was bound and gagged and being held by the nameless man, fear clear in his eyes.

In a flash and a puff of smoke, the man disappeared, taking Matthew with him.

So Gilbert's search commenced anew. And he searched for so long, but was unable to find Matthew, regardless of how long he searched.

One day, as he rode through the forest, he heard another horse come up behind him. He turned in his saddle and saw his brother on the other horse. His brother rode up beside him and said, "Gilbert, we are worried for you. We want you to return to the palace. You have been gone far too long."

"But I must find Matthew!" Gilbert protested.

"Gilbert," Ludwig began, "I have been searching for you for as long as you have been searching for him. Please just return with me."

Gilbert sighed, but did as his brother bid.

And Gilbert fell into depression. He tried and failed time and time again to divert his thoughts away from Matthew, but it did not seem to be possible. Finally, one day, his father came to him.

"This has gone on too long," his father said, "so tonight, we will hold a masquerade ball and you will choose a bride."

Gilbert sighed, having long lost all drive to fight.

That night, Gilbert played the part of the perfect prince. He danced with all the young ladies and men and pretended that everything wasn't horrible.

Toward the end of the night, near midnight, a young man that Gilbert hadn't seen before arrived. He looked familiar, but the mask prevented Gilbert from identifying him.

Gilbert danced with the man until midnight, and for the first time since Matthew vanished, he enjoyed himself truly. At midnight exactly, the man ran off, leaving behind only a shoe.

Gilbert took the shoe and inspected it. It was very unique and artfully crafted. He declared that if anyone could produce the match to the shoe, he would marry them.

So another search began. Gilbert scoured the land with his brother at his side. Finally, as he was about to give up, he came across a large house with a very tall tower at the top. Gilbert approached and knocked. He and his brother were admitted immediately, as their purpose had spread far and wide. The house was occupied by two young men. They were brothers by the names of Feliciano and Lovino. They were very hospitable, but neither one confessed to having the shoe's match. They didn't even try, unlike all the others in the kingdom.

Just as the princes were turning to leave, Gilbert asked, "is there no one else living in this house?"

"No," Lovino answered immediately.

Disheartened, the brothers began leaving, but just as they did, Feliciano asked, "ve, what about Mat-"

He was cut off. Gilbert turned back to the two of them only to see the nameless sleeping man with his hand clapped over Feliciano's mouth.

"You..." Gilbert began darkly.

"Yes. I suppose the cat is out of the bag now," the man smirked and released Feliciano, "I'm sure you want Matthew back, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Gilbert declared.

"Then come get him," the man cackled and ran up the stairs. Gilbert drew his sword and followed.

At the very top of the tall tower, there was a single room. The nameless man opened it with a key and disappeared inside. Gilbert followed without hesitation. Once inside, Gilbert saw, sitting at the window seat, staring forlornly at the castle, Matthew. Matthew looked up when the door opened and his eyes brightened when he saw Gilbert.

"Gil!" Matthew exclaimed. He stood and tried to run to Gilbert, but was stopped by a strong arm around his waist. The nameless man cackled as he held the struggling Matthew back.

"Not so fast," the man said, "first, a short monologue, then an epic battle. Then, assuming your young prince wins, he can have you."

"Fuck that," Gilbert stated. And with a quick slash of his sword, he dug a deep gash into the nameless man's side. The man shrieked and collapsed, releasing Matthew. Matthew ran to Gilbert, who scooped him off his feet and spun him around. They embraced and kissed and kissed and embraced. Finally, after what seemed like no where near enough time, the young lovers descended the stairs.

Upon reaching the bottom, they found Ludwig with a slightly guilty look on his face.

"Bruder," Ludwig began, "I am bringing the Vargas brothers with me back to the castle."

"Okay," Gilbert replied. He honestly couldn't care about his brother's choices. He was too  
happy just being with Matthew again to notice.

The five of them loaded up into the carriage and returned to the castle. Matthew and Gilbert were married within the week, and Ludwig and Feliciano were married the week after. Lovino fell in love (though he denied it) with the royal gardener and they were soon married, too.

And for a month, everyone was happy.

But after one month, Matthew became pregnant. He approached Gilbert, somewhat guiltily, after they had known about his pregnancy for some time.

"Gil...I-I need to tell you something," Matthew began.

Gilbert smiled and pulled his husband onto his lap, gently laying one hand onto the slightly bulging stomach, "what is it?"

"Well..." Matthew said, "while that man was holding me captive, I spent all my time making shoes. But after a while, I got bored. So bored I was ready to  
throw myself off the tower. So the man offered me a deal. He promised to teach me to spin straw into gold if I gave him my firstborn child."

"So...what did you do?" Gilbert asked.

"My judgment was poor and...I agreed."

"So can you spin straw into gold?"

Matthew nodded, "but he's going to want our child in return."

Gilbert suddenly realised what Matthew meant. "Oh," was all he could think to say.

The next few months passed with a cloud over the young couple. Gilbert constantly tried to reassure Matthew that all would be well, but the latter wouldn't believe him. And quite frankly, the former was having a hard time believing himself.

Then, one day, the inevitable happened. The nameless man appeared to Gilbert and Matthew.

"Remember our deal, young Matthew?" the man asked with a smirk.

"Y-yes..." Matthew confessed slowly, "but-"

"But what?" the man asked, "don't tell me you want to back out."

"W-well..." Matthew began.

"You can't have the child!" Gilbert announced.

"Oh? Well, I'll make one more deal with you, prince Gilbert, since the child is also yours and not just Matthew's," the man cackled, "if you can guess my name between now and three days from now, you can keep the child."

Something struck the back of Gilbert's mind. A small bell rang, telling him something. He smirked, "deal."

"Excellent. You can start guessing tomorrow," the man vanished.

"Oh, what are we to do?" Matthew asked, "we have not even a single clue as to that man's name."

"Fret not, my dear," Gilbert replied, "all will be well."

"Your highness," a voice said from behind the couple. They turned to see a huntsman by the name of Ivan, "your highness, if I might...I know the man's name. I was out in the woods when I came across him. He was healing from the wound you gave him last you met. I would tell you the name, da?"

"Nein," Gilbert replied, "I know his name."

The other two people in the room stared at him.

"You...do?" Matthew asked.

"It's Rumplestiltskin!" Gilbert announced.

"Da. It is," Ivan confirmed, "how did you..."

"Let's just say I'm awesome," Gilbert replied.

The next day, when the man appeared to the couple, Gilbert feigned ignorance, then stated the name.

Rumestiltskin hesitated, then the smirk left his lips.

"H-how did you..." the man began. Then he grimaced, "no! You're not supposed to know! No!"

And with that, Rumplestiltskin vanished and was never seen again.

Gilbert and Matthew turned to each other, smiles on their faces. They kissed, and Gilbert felt Matthew's swollen belly.

"I love you," Matthew said, "but you should probably wake up now."

"What?" Gilbert asked.

Matthew's voice held a note of laughter as he said, "wake up, Gil!"

Gilbert opened his eyes to see Matthew hovering over him, a gentle smile on his lips.

"B-Birdie?" Gilbert asked, "what...?"

"You seemed like you were having one crazy dream," Matthew said, "you woke me when you grabbed me and started saying 'Rumplestiltskin!' Do you remember it at all?"

Gilbert hesitated, "j-ja..."

"What was it about?"

"Oh...us," Gilbert replied vaguely, "I'll tell you in the morning." Gilbert shifted onto his side, pulled his blankets up to his chin, and closed his eyes.

"Aw...but you'll forget by then," Matthew pouted, "I'll make you pancakes for breakfast tomorrow if you tell me."

Gilbert sighed. Matthew had the world's best bargaining chip. He turned back over and faced Matthew. He gently laid one hand on Matthew's stomach, "first, you have to promise me that you're not pregnant."

"Well...I'm a man, so that's not very likely to happen," Matthew teased. He moved so he was straddling Gilbert's waist, his hands on Gilbert's chest for support.

Gilbert let a small smile creep onto his lips. He reached up and pulled Matthew onto his chest. He held him close and told him the awesome story of his dream.

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**Did you find all five fairy tales? Send me a review or PM and let me know!  
**

**So, yeah. Don't ask how this idea came to me...it just did.**

**Holy crap! Is this a short A/N? **

**Indeed it is! XD**

**Until next time!**

_**~Maya**_

**Oh! I almost forgot! I have a twitter account (I've had one for a while, but I keep forgetting to put it here...). So if you're interested you can either search for MayaTamika on twitter, go to my profile for the link, or just use this: / MayaTamika  
**

**I don't post super often, but you'll most likely be entertained in some form or another (it's connected to my YouTube account, so you'll see all the comments I post on videos and stuff.)**


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